At long last I have a vehicle suitable to be a home to my big block (I currently run a 40 over 12.5:1 318 in the high 12's in a 3100 pound car). I would like some cam/compression/anything else recomendations that would be suitable to get the motor up to speed for running in the low 11's or high 10's. Although this is a street car, driveablity is not an issue - it will be built to run a number.

The 440 I have is a 1966 440 with 300,000 advertised miles (well "seasoned"), with a set of 915 heads. I would like to know everyone's ideas on the following:

1. What cam selection? Hydraulic, Solid, or is there a roller cam available for big blocks? Lift,Duration, make?
2. What compression ratio/Specific piston brand would work best with the close chamber 915 heads and your suggested cam?
3. Fenderwell headers for A body - who makes the best? What size tubes for this combo?
4. Best single plane intake for big block?

I know that the 456 (prob wrong - late 70's heads) have the hardened seats and can be fitted with the large valves, but I would like to stay with the 915 heads for the "initial" combo.

The car will initially have a Holley 750 Mechanical, but could be jetted up or swapped for an 850 at some time. A Mallory 140 setup with a return line will feed the beast from an 8 gallon fuel cell. The plugs will be fired by an MSD, or if I run out of money, a Chrome box. The rest of the car and drivetrain are up to the task with a 727 TCI 3800 Stall, back to a 4:30 Richmond gearset spinning Greg Moser race axles with Centerline convo pros with 13.5 Mickey Thompsen ET Streets. The car is also tied and has a 10 point cage.

Also, this car was originally setup to run NMCA, and has the notch taken out of the K member to accomodate a large oil pan. Looking around at other A bodies, I see this is pretty common. Who makes these oil pans and were can I get one?

Any ideas?
The Dartman

jelsr

12-14-2001, 06:52 PM

Not a drag racer but I can help on couple of things. If you run very much of a camshaft you would be required to run a lot of compression, 180 lbs +, and will need to run drum gas which is leaded. This will allow you to run the 915's without the hard seats. If you run one of the long deep pans you will also need the swinging pickup or you might uncover the sump during acceleration or deceleration. The B/RB's are fantastic engines and will respond well to most mods.
Good luck!

JCFcuda

12-14-2001, 11:26 PM

I would run the roller, if you can afford it. If it is the right one it will make more power and still have driveabillty.
Aftermarket heads, VIs ,Edelbrock,indy srs,Brodix b1-bs,(i know its easy to spend someone else's money). The perfomance of high 10.s would be easier to reach with heads that flow in the 290 to 300 cfm at 650 lift or so. 10.5 compression.
I use semi- fenderwells (pro-parts) 2in You can get them at Hensely peformance. I think its a pretty good setup. If you want and more info on these let me know.
Single plane, A friend of mine did back to back Dyno tests on 4 different ones ( M-1 ,HollyStdom ,Team -G ) w/1050 Holley
Team-G made the most power and torque.Edelbrock is coming out with a Victor for the 440 in the near future.
Milodon is the most common in the oil pan oil system setup
The external dual-line system is the best(not including dry sumps). 8000RPMS . The single static line pick-up system is also pretty good.Also when you run the dual line you need the oil punp drive shaft thats made for it, one with a bronze gear if you run the roller.
The rest of the package I like.
Jim
Jim